AFA Political Action Committee (PAC) Funds
Last year, AFA dedicated time and funding to assist the three new District trustees with their campaigns, including funds to pay down campaign debts after the November elections. In January of this year, the Executive Council also unanimously voted to co-sponsor, with the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC), an award for Assemblymember Jose Medina (D-Riverside), to acknowledge his commitment to education as chair of the State Assembly Committee on Higher Education.
For the past several years, AFA has also partnered with the California Community Colleges Independents (CCCI) in hiring a part-time lobbyist, David Balla-Hawkins, who works in Sacramento to advocate for all faculty members in the California Community College (CCC) system. Balla-Hawkins and CCCI were the driving forces behind the legislative audit of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). The results of that audit confirmed what CCC faculty and others had long claimed—that ACCJC functioned without transparency, that it inconsistently applied its own policies, and that its demands (including writing and regularly assessing Student Learning Outcomes for courses, departments, and programs) have resulted in more work hours for faculty and increased costs for districts.
In total, in working to effect positive change for our faculty, AFA has contributed $31,630 over the last several years, including more than $15,000 coming from AFA PAC funds. More to the point, AFA made these expenditures at a time when we had stopped contributing to our PAC account, due to lower revenues experienced during the recession. It is now time to begin replenishing our PAC account. You can contribute directly by participating in our voluntary PAC payroll deduction plan, and even $1 per month can add up to a lot if enough members participate. Of course, you can also help by making one-time donations at any time of the year. Click on the following link to complete an AFA-PAC voluntary contribution form and return it to the AFA office for processing:
http://www.santarosa.edu/afa/Forms/AFA-PAC_voluntary_contribution.pdf.